MM: We spoke briefly the last time you were here in Vermont. You mentioned how there's still a lot of hype surrounding the band and how you're noticing a lot of people come out and then they see how other people react and they don't really get it. [laughter] And so the people that do‚ they join in and they want to go with it‚ and then the other people that don't get it‚ leave.

SO: Yeah‚ that's kind of a consistent thing. We just played in Iceland and it was the first time there‚ and I think because of whatever record label we're on or whatever group of bands we get grouped in with‚ people‚ I think‚ like… I don't know. Let's say the audience in Iceland was a hundred people and half of those people knew our music and were really excited about it‚ and then there was another half that just kind of heard about it or‚ you know‚ thought it was the cool thing to do or whatever‚ and went. And usually those people end up leaving or trailing off towards the end of the show‚ and the other half of the crowd is just really excited‚ engaged‚ taking part. And they're the ones that tend to be‚ you know‚ more blown away by it. But then it's cool because they tell their friends and then the audience builds from that core. You know?

MM: Yeah‚ totally. Let me ask you a little bit about the album [Love is Simple].

SO: Sure.

MM: Still new…ish.

SO: [laughs] Yes! Well‚ for everyone else except for us.

MM: Yeah‚ exactly. Well‚ with that being said‚ how do you feel about it now?

SO: Well‚ truthfully‚ I actually haven't listened to it since it came out. It took us about‚ I guess‚ half a year to really make‚ and‚ as what happened with most of the records we make‚ it's like we pay so much attention and are so involved in every detail‚ that by the time we get to finishing all the artwork and all the mixes and the masters and everything‚ it's like you've really almost lost complete perspective on it‚ you know?

MM: Right.

SO: So it's kind of like‚ OK, I think it's good. I have good memories. And hopefully‚ in two or three years‚ I'll be able to listen to it. [laughter] And appreciate it. But I don't know-I think we were happy with it. I think we got to do a lot of things on this one that we didn't get to do on some of our other records. And the other part of it is‚ we worked with a different producer on this record. Andrew Weiss is his name. He does the Ween records. And I remember him telling us that Hall and Oates didn't feel like they got it right until the tenth record.

MM: [laughs] Right.

SO: So there's a certain sense to each record. I feel like we learn something new‚ we get something right‚ but then we also get something else wrong. And oftentimes‚ you end up learning from the things you get wrong‚ more than you do from the things you get right. [laughter] You know what I mean?

And so I think that on this record‚ it was just another step in the learning process. I'm happy with the record as an object‚ but I also think that we grew tremendously as a live band because of how we worked on this record‚ with things that we were focusing on developing. And things that maybe I don't feel like I totally captured in the record actually ended up really benefiting us in the live group and as individual musicians. So we grew a lot around this record‚ which‚ for me‚ stands almost just like a photograph of a moment in time. And the whole moment has all these different elements‚ the record just kind of being one of them to us.

MM: Yeah‚ exactly. It's interesting you mention kind of looking back. Like right now‚ it just is what it is; you're on to the next thing. What about the other albums you've put out?

SO: Well‚ like recently‚ I actually heard our first record‚ or part of it‚ and I was like‚ Oh wow! That sounds cool! It's like… I don't even remember doing that! You know? It's like you get far enough away and you can almost appreciate it as just an album that someone made in a sense. Which is nice. You can get to some level of objectivity. I'm sure ten years from now…. Again‚ our producer Andrew was talking about how you can really never hear your music until you forget completely how you've made it. Because otherwise‚ it's like when I listen to the new record-I just hear all the EQs that are on one track‚ and there's so much information that I hear based about all the elements that went into making it.

It's like jazz musicians. I studied jazz in college‚ and at a certain point I couldn't listen to jazz anymore 'cause I studied so much of it that whenever I heard it‚ all I heard was almost like information. I heard what the bass player was doing and the harmonies and piano and the rhythm and I just dissected every element and I lost a lot of perspective on the whole of it‚ if that makes sense.

MM: Oh‚ yeah. Absolutely.

SO: I kind of gave up playing jazz for a few years‚ and then recently‚ I've just been totally enchanted again with listening to it because it's gotten far enough away from my analytic brain that I can just appreciate the whole of the sound again.